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Joe Rand, an energy policy researcher in the Energy Markets and Policy Department at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), was named in the Top 50 Data Changemakers in the Energy Sector 2025. The list was recently published by Chief Data Officer Magazine. The magazine included Rand in “an elite group of innovators who are at the forefront of an industry undergoing seismic... Read more

Adapted from a Dec. 20, 2024 Department of Energy news releaseA recent report produced by the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), which outlines the energy use of data centers from 2014 to 2028, estimates that data center load growth has tripled over the past decade and is projected to double or triple by 2028.The 2024 Report on U.S. Data Center Energy... Read more

Three scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) were among the nearly 400 scientists and engineers awarded by President Biden to receive the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers early in their careers.Raúl Briceño... Read more

This year’s Director’s Awards at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (Berkeley Lab) recognized Energy Technologies Area (ETA) researchers, Marca Doeff, Gao Liu, Charlie Ćurčija, Howdy Goudey, Robert Hart, Brendon Milne Smith, Dev Millstein and Jennifer Stokes-Draut.The Director’s Awards highlight Berkeley Lab employee achievements across a range of categories. A... Read more

Retrofitting a portion of the US shipping fleet from internal combustion engines to battery-electric systems could significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and be largely cost effective by 2035, according to a new study from Berkeley Lab researchers recently published in Nature Energy.Shipping represents 3% of total US greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, making it an important... Read more

The Alliance to Save Energy (ASE) conferred an Energy Research and Analysis Star of Energy Efficiency Award to Jared Langevin and Andy Satchwell of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), for their pioneering modeling of building sector decarbonization scenarios.The U.S. Building Sector Decarbonization Scenarios to 2050 detailed, for the first time, the intersection of the building... Read more

A machine that sucks carbon emissions from the atmosphere might sound like science fiction, but it is one of several carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies expected to help achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. While emission mitigation is the current priority, CDR will eventually tackle “residual emissions” from sectors like heavy industry and agriculture that may be too costly to fully... Read more

Ashok Gadgil, a retired faculty senior scientist in the Energy Technologies Area of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and a UC Berkeley Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was featured in the Bayh-Dole Coalition's second annual "Faces of American Innovation" report for his role in developing a powerful light-based water disinfector. Gadgil... Read more

One innovative technology from the Energy Technologies Area (ETA) is among two at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) that have been honored with a 2024 R&D 100 Award. The award, presented by R&D Magazine and selected by an independent panel of judges, recognizes the year’s 100 most innovative and disruptive technology products... Read more

As the United States expands its clean energy capacity, it also needs more transmission bandwidth. Reconductoring—a power industry term for replacing cables on existing transmission towers—is one way to expand the nation’s transmission capacity.To help assess reconductoring projects, researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed the Reconductoring... Read more

Cigarette smoke has been studied for years, revealing a multitude of contaminants, including toxic metals. But exactly which of those metals can be traced to secondhand or thirdhand smoke? Solving this problem has been a challenge for the research community because many of the metals found in tobacco smoke could also come from industrial or naturally occurring pollutants contaminating indoor and... Read more

Abby Dernburg and Ramamoorthy Ramesh, two senior faculty scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. They join 118 other new members and 24 international members who will be formally inducted next April.On top of being one of... Read more

As the nation shifts to clean energy, many communities, businesses, and government agencies face a head-spinning number of technology, operational, and policy decisions. Technical assistance experts at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) help identify solutions that are most cost-effective and viable for each individual partner, in addition to increasing energy efficiency and... Read more

Jessica Granderson, a senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), has been named director of the Building Technology and Urban Systems (BTUS) Division in the Energy Technologies Area. Her appointment is effective immediately and follows an extensive international search.“Jessica’s formidable experience of over 17 years at Berkeley Lab, her management skills,... Read more

In a significant step towards accelerating industrial decarbonization in Indonesia, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) hosted a weeklong training for Indonesian policymakers, industry leaders, and experts from March 25 to 29. The training, organized in collaboration with the Institute for Essential Service Reforms (IESR) of Indonesia, aimed to transfer knowledge and build... Read more

Tony Nero, an early member of the then newly-formed Energy and Environment Division at Berkeley Lab, died on October 13, 2023 in Rehoboth Beach, DE, at age 81. At the time of his retirement in 1994, Nero was a Senior Staff Scientist and Deputy Program Leader for the Indoor Air Program. He was a graduate of Archmere Academy (Claymont, DE), received a bachelor's degree in physics from Fordham... Read more

Hanna Breunig, a research scientist in the Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), has been honored with the 2023 Energy and Environmental Science (EES) Lectureship Award from the Royal Society of Chemistry.Breunig is one of only two recipients of the annual award, which recognizes early-career researchers working within an energy... Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has recognized a multi-laboratory team’s work on the Puerto Rican electric grid with a 2023 Secretary’s Honor Award. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) staff Peter Cappers, Margaret Pigman, and Jeffrey Deason (pictured left to right) are among the team recipients.DOE and six National Laboratories have been providing Puerto Rico with tools,... Read more

Every year, airplanes crisscrossing U.S. skies burn 23 billion gallons of fuel, leaving contrails and 8% of the nation’s transportation-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in their wake. A recent study by researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and Sandia National Laboratories reveals which crop-based feedstocks offer the... Read more

Ashok Gadgil – a retired faculty senior scientist in the Energy Technologies Area of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) – is among 162 new fellows of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) for 2023. His many inventions include low-cost, life-sustaining solutions such as safe drinking water and fuel-efficient cookstoves for the most vulnerable communities in the developing... Read more

As the world copes with more extreme heat because of climate change, the need for efficient cooling devices is more pressing than ever. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is co-leading an effort to create global equipment guidelines that serve the places where this equipment is needed most. In October, the Lab and the United Nations Environment Program’s United for Efficiency... Read more

Several employees in the Energy Technologies Area were honored in this year’s Director’s Awards at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (Berkeley Lab). The Lab’s Director’s Awards program recognizes employees’ accomplishments, leadership, collaboration, multi-disciplinary science, cross-divisional projects, and commitment to excellence in support of the Lab’s... Read more

During a ceremony at the White House today, President Biden awarded Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) retired Faculty Senior Scientist Ashok Gadgil the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the nation’s highest honor for technological achievement. His award is “for providing life-sustaining resources to communities around the world. His innovative, inexpensive... Read more

Growing up in Mumbai, India in the 1950s, Ashok Gadgil remembers his small apartment overflowing with books. “My dad was a member of a number of libraries and he would bring in a dozen books at a time,” he fondly recalls. These early experiences contributed to his growing curiosity and awareness of the world, and subsequently, his interest in science. Gadgil earned degrees in physics from the... Read more

Hydrogen, the smallest element in the universe, has huge potential as a clean energy source. Using hydrogen (H2) as a fuel and as a means of storing energy could reduce our dependence on petroleum and help us reduce air pollution and greenhouse emissions to meet our goals for a cleaner and better climate. However, adopting hydrogen power on a large scale requires advances in technology and the... Read more